Cinderella (1950)

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson

Written by Ken Anderson, Perce Pearce, Homer Brightman, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Erdman Penner, Harry Reeves, Joe Rinaldi, Ted Sears, and Maurice Rapf. Based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault.

Premiered February 15, 1950

75 minutes

Rated G

Synopsis

Once upon a time, a well-to-do widower with one daughter married a respectable widow with two daughters of her own. Soon after, the man died, leaving his daughter in the care of her stepmother. Jealous of the daughter (or something) Lady Tremaine (Eleanor Audley) forces the girl, whom she has rechristened Cinderella (Ilene Woods), to do all the housework for her and her two homely and obnoxious daughters, Anastasia (Lucille Bliss) and Drizella (Rhoda Williams). To make her life less of a living hell, Cinderella befriends the animals of the house including mice Jaq and Gus-Gus (both voiced by Jimmy MacDonald). Then one day, a royal proclamation states all eligible maidens in the kingdom are to attend a royal ball and be introduced to the Prince (William Phipps). With the aid of her Fairy Godmother (Verna Felton), Cinderella is sent to the ball in proper attire, captures the Prince's heart and then forced to flee as the magic wears off, leaving behind only a glass slipper.

Before We Begin

Here we are (FINALLY) at the end of Fondness. We began with a fairy tale and we end with a fairy tale. And if you remember all those Package Film posts, you might remember that Disney was struggling during and after World War II, financially and creatively. This was the movie that got them out of the funk. Fairy tales have a way of doing that for Disney. YOU'D THINK THEY'D MAKE MORE OF THEM INSTEAD OF CRANKING OUT SEQUELS.

(I've recently learned that Jack and the Beanstalk Gigantic was canceled as of October 2017 and I am bummed.)

Anyway...Cinderella. It brought Disney back to life and put money in the bank and the animation wing carried on. Audiences loved it. They still love it. It's probably the most famous version of Cinderella ever. Let's take a look.

Mötley Müsings

• VHS for the win. For the record, I rented the death out of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty when I was younger. I alternated between the two over and over, never quite deciding which one I liked best.

• This title song isn't terrible. "Though your dressed in rags, you wear an air of queenly grace."

• I recently watched a huge chunk of the 2015 live action remake and MY GOD it is terrible. More on that later.

• The book!!!!!

• So her real name is Cinderella, not Ella with cinder tacked on. K.

• At least she gets her own room. Just sayin'.

• THIS IS SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT OVER ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD.

• Already there is a lot of the mice and birds...

• "Oh that clock!" Me every morning at my alarm.

• Chores are much more fun when you have animal helpers. I mean, they help her shower, for Christsakes and set out her clothes! Such service.

• I dig her work outfit.

• What the hell kind of 19th century mousetrap is that? It leaves the mice alive? For what purpose?

• "Octavius. But for short, we'll call you Gus."

• Speaking of names, only an evil cunt would name her cat after the devil!

• "There must be something good about him." Nice try, Cinderella.

• Bruno must have been her dad's dog, because I don't see Lady Tremaine having a hound dog. Maybe a poodle.

• MICE ADVENTURES THAT DO NOTHING TO ADVANCE THE STORY.

• This is still going on... We've established that Lucifer is a dick and that Cinderella does her best to be fair and kind to all the animals of the house. WE DON'T NEED TO SEE ALL THIS.

• Although it does lead to Gus-Gus getting trapped under one of the teacups that goes to one of the stepsisters which goes somewhere, but it didn't need to be that time consuming!

• Can we just talk about how impressive it is that Cinderella can balance a tray of HOT TEA on her head?

• Establishing the stepsisters' big feet.

• "It seems we have time on our hands...time for vicious practical jokes..."

• CROWN THROUGH THE WINDOW!?

• The King and the Grand Duke...we spend a lot of time with them as well.

• "Love...just a boy meeting a girl under the right conditions." ...true?

• I love that moment of vanity where Cinderella looks at her reflection in the bubble. Although this is nothing but the animators showing off. At least it's a Cinderella scene.

• Lucifer is such a dick.

• "He said it's urgent. Maybe I should interrupt the music lesson." OH SNAP. SARCASM, WHAT!?

• The Prince. No need for a first name.

• "...and every eligible maiden is to attend."
"Why, that's us!"
"And I'm so eligible!"

• "I'd be honored, Your Highness. Would you mind holding my broom?"

• You go Cinderella! Fight for your rights!

• "Of course...I said if."

• I'd be happy if this was the only mouse scene. Fixing up her dress shows how much they like her and it does solve the problem of her having no time to work on it. But the quest of Jaq and Gus-Gus getting the sash and beads is NOT NECESSARY.

• I can't decide whether or not the mice improve the dress or not. 

• "Why Cinderella, you're not ready, child."

• "These beads. They give it just the right touch. Don't you think so...Drizella?"

• JESUS. This is vicious.

• "Good night."

• Yes...how does one get a Fairy Godmother?

• So, what's interesting about the pumpkin carriage is that pumpkins didn't grow in France where Charles Perrault was from. They were native to North America.

• Her dress is basically silver and then in the DVD they tinted it blue for marketing purposes.

• The King being overly concerned with his son producing an heir is accurate.

• Why are Anastasia and Drizella presented together?

• Oh this meta narration by the Grand Duke is great.

• "Take a look at that, you pompous windbag!"

• Dancing with the footman...YES.

• Lady Tremaine recognizing her but not getting a good enough look is good. None of that Clark Kent bullshit.

• "The Prince! I haven't met the Prince."
"The Prince? But didn't you know..."
Like, he's gotta be the best dressed in the lot. And didn't she see him bowing to everyone?

• Another scene with the King and the Grand Duke...why didn't they make the Prince a bigger character? I know he's not as "funny" but...

• "This slipper could fit any number of girls."
"That's his problem."

• "No one, not even the Prince, knows who that girl is." YEAH BUT HE KNOWS WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE AND SHE DON'T LOOK NOTHING LIKE ANASTASIA OR DRIZELLA.

• I love how she hands off the clothes like "Fuck this. I gotta get dressed."

• That is a scene! The slow ascent on the steps, listening to Cinderella sing the song from the ball and then quickly locking her in. "I know it was you." Love it.

• Why can't it be the Prince going around to try the slipper on all the girls? Or at least have him participate.

• Where did Lady Tremaine get mauve nail polish?

• The mice do a lot in the end by stealing the key and carrying it all the fucking way up to the attic tower! They're the unsung heroes.

• And then Lucifer. 

• "Get Bruno!" #foreshadowing

• K, the timing of all this doesn't really mesh. 

• I hate Lucifer, but I really hope he survived that fall.

• "You are the only ladies of the household, I hope...I presume."

• Broken glass...playing with fragility of the shoe. See? It's risky having a shoe made of glass.

• "But you see, I have the other slipper." BITCH.

• That wedding dress is so 50s.

Final Thoughts

I cheated. I deliberately saved Cinderella for last to finish out my Fondness category and that is because, in truth, I came to be on the fence about it since the time I created my lists nearly two years ago. (Jesus, really?) When I thought of Cinderella I was very torn. Firstly, it's a princess movie, so duh...and I also had a bad case of nostalgic love for it. But then it spends a lot of time--too much time--fucking around with the mice and the King and the Grand Duke's bromance. There is too little time with Cinderella (the GD title character) and if we're going to spend any time away from the Chateau du Tremaine, I want to get to know the Prince, not his father. But even with all those faults, I am still fond of Cinderella and this is the category in which it belongs. Yay!

Fine. I'll admit most of it is nostalgia and my general weakness towards the pretty, pretty princesses. But I also love the Lady Tremaine stuff. I think my favorite Disney villains are the ones without powers, the ones who are simply evil humans (or animals in some cases). It makes them all the more frightening and real. And in the case of Lady Tremaine, her hatred is laser focused on one person which influences her daughters. I am here for the Mean Girls-back-handed-compliments-emotional-manipulation type villainy that comes with every version of Cinderella and this one doesn't disappoint. Unfortunately, the 1950s wasn't a time for delving into the character motivation of fairy tale villainesses, so we don't ever get to learn just what Lady Tremaine's deal is.

However, in the mid 2010s, Disney decided to remake Cinderella into a live action feature. Out of all the DAFs they could have remade I was most rooting for this one. If any of the DAFs deserved a remake, it was this one. They could cut down on the mice and beef up the role of the Prince. And even though they did just that, they still shit the bed. Frankly, I don't have the patience to go into all the reasons why. But Ilene Woods's Cinderella, even with her limited screen time, offers a more realistic characters than that human actress's. Sorry, human actress.

Favorite Character

Cinderella

Favorite Moment -- Cinderella and the Prince at the ball. (Don't you judge me!)

Favorite Song -- "So This is Love" performed by Ilene Woods and Mike Douglas.